


Baby Talk and a Birthday Party

by Mininight



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: Bopal - Freeform, Kittens, Korrasami - Freeform, Multi, Mutual Pining, Wuko, a budding Bolin and Wu friendship, im going to write a fic that is so self-indulgent, pabu - Freeform, this fic has everything it has, this started off as a cute one-shot about Mako becoming a cat dad but evolved into a 17k monster, toza/grandma lin?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-25
Updated: 2021-01-25
Packaged: 2021-03-17 08:34:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 17,448
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28971408
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mininight/pseuds/Mininight
Summary: Bolin discovers that Mako liked their new fire ferret, Pabu, a lot more than he thought he would. Years later, King Wu asks Bolin for some advice.Basically a self-indulgent monster of a fic where Mako becomes a loving cat dad.
Relationships: Bolin/Opal (Avatar), Korra/Asami Sato, Mako/Prince Wu (Avatar)
Comments: 5
Kudos: 67





	Baby Talk and a Birthday Party

**Author's Note:**

> I didn't feel like clogging up the tags, but this is basically a super self-indulgent 17k+ monster that has:
> 
> Wuko (duh), Korrasami, Bopal, a sprinkle of Kyalin, Toza/Grandma Lin?, baby Pabu, grown-up Pabu, Pabu is now a big brother, kittens, mutual pining, getting together, the start of a Bolin & Wu friendship, not me showing off my knowledge of cast iron cookware maintenance even though I hate my cast iron pans, Mako secretly really really loves animals, Bolin being a little shit, Mako being a little shit, a dash of Mako & Kai acting like brothers, Mako gets a nice birthday party because its what he deserves, Bolin and Mako are brothers that love each other very much, Bolin and Mako are brothers that sometimes love to mess with each other, not me with my love for lattes vicariously living through Mako because my stomach can't handle them anymore, and finally, Mako is no longer a cop by the end
> 
> Hopefully I kept everyone in character. I sort of rushed to finished the end, I had more planned (I did not even get to all the new cat dad adventures I had planned) but I've spent over a week on this and I wanted it done.

“See you tomorrow, kid.”

“See you tomorrow Toza!” Bolin stretched and finished gathering his stuff to head out of the training room. They had only been living above the pro-bending arena for a few weeks, but they’d already gotten a steady training schedule going. Mako was usually the one who woke up earliest, so he would go downstairs and train by himself in the morning. When he was done Bolin would probably either have just woken up or was still sleeping, so he would make them both breakfast before they would both go to the training rooms again and train together with Toza. Which actually consisted of a lot more sitting down and talking about the rules of pro-bending than he thought it would. Especially when Mako had follow up questions. The three of them would eat lunch together somewhere in the middle of that. Then came Bolin’s favorite part of training: one-on-one time with Toza.

Mako had tried to train him as best as he could, and he had picked up a few things when they worked with the Triple Threats. But it was nice to finally have a teacher that 1) was actually an earth bender and 2) didn’t threaten him with violence, either spoken or unspoken. He could tell his bending skills gotten significantly better the last few weeks. And with regular meals every day and an actual bed to sleep in, he could feel himself getting stronger too. Usually they would train for longer, but Toza had been complaining of a bad knee, so they ended training early that day. Which Bolin didn’t entirely mind; it just gave him some extra time to hang out with Mako in their cool new apartment. Lost in pleasant thoughts, he didn’t hear the voice until he was almost at the metal stairs that led up to their new apartment.

“Are you a cute boy? Of course you’re cute boy!”

Bolin looked around, confused. There was nobody else around him. And there were no games tonight, so almost everyone in the arena had already left for the evening.

“Alright, come here you baby. You big babied baby.”

The voice reminded him of some of the rich people that would go to the matches and sit in private boxes and bring small pets in their purses and coo at them the whole time. But that voice was… coming from upstairs? That couldn’t be right. The only one who should be upstairs was Mako and Pabu, why would fancy rich people with spoiled pets be in their apartment?

“You’re good babied boy. You are! You’re such a good boy!”

Bewildered, and a little on edge, he slowly crept up the stairs. Not sure what he was expecting, but he was trying to prepare for anything. Maybe some rich people had invaded his apartment? The Triple Threats had come back for them and they were putting Mako through some super strange psychological torture?

“I think a very good boy deserves a good boy treatie treat.”

Bolin popped his head up through the hatch that Mako had left open for him like usual. He was shocked to find Mako the only one there, stirring something in a pan on the stove. But he did a double take when Mako turned to the side a bit and revealed he was holding Pabu in his other arm. The fire ferret had cozied up into the fire benders side, his little head tucked into the crook of Mako’s neck, paws clutching the fabric around his neckline. And was Pabu purring? Since when could Pabu purr? And why was Mako holding Pabu like a baby?

“Are you ready for treatie treat?” His brother said, in a voice Bolin had _never_ heard him use before in his entire life. As he watched, Mako took a little piece of whatever he was cooking out of the pan with one hand, and from the way the steam started moving out of the piece of food Bolin could tell he was using his bending to cool it down. So it wouldn’t be too hot for…

“So you _do_ like him!”

Mako looked back at him startled, froze for a second, then very badly feigned shock as he looked down at the fire ferret cuddled in his arms.

“Ah, Pabu what are d- No! Get down Pabu, no!”

Pabu did not get down. Instead, he cheerfully chittered and climbed up Mako’s arm onto his shoulders to rub up against his face. Bolin crossed his arms, eyebrow raised in a disbelieving expression that his brother had used on him dozens of times. But this time the script was flipped.

“It’s not what it looks like, I swear!”

“Mhmm, sure it isn’t.”

“It’s not!”

“Yeah? Then who’s that for?” Bolin pointed at the now fire ferret safe temperature morsel still in Mako’s hand. Mako looked down at his hand and back at him.

“It’s for… me. It’s for me to… taste… test.”

“Okay. Then taste test.”

Mako stared at him and slowly moved his hand up towards his face, but after a moments pause, he sighed and moved the hand towards Pabu, still on his shoulder, who happily ate it from his fingers.

“Ugh, fine!”

“Busted!” Bolin jumped up and cheered.

“I promised him treatie treats, I can’t just _not_ give him his promised treats.” Mako rolled his eyes and went back to stirring the food in the pan.

“I thought you didn’t want him!”

“Well, you know, when we didn’t have food or a home to take care of him in, no I didn’t. But now,” He paused to scratch between the fire ferrets’ ears. “Now he’s sort of nice to have around. I actually always wanted a fire ferret when we still… when we were little.”

A guilty feeling settled in Bolin's stomach. He had been the one who insisted on adopting the fire ferret. He had wanted Pabu so badly, but they had barely been able to take care of their own basic needs. He realized, even though everything had worked out in the end, Mako had been right.

“Hey Mako? I, um, sorry I called you heartless. I don’t think I said sorry for that yet, and it wasn’t an okay thing to say to you.”

Mako just smiled and pulled him into a hug. “It’s okay Bo, I’ll always love you no matter what.”

“I love you too big bro.” He felt something soft and furry brush against his face and he giggled.

“Yes Pabu, we both love you too.”

* * *

“Hey Bolin, buddy, old pal! Why don’t we get lunch together?”

 _We’re not pals_ , was right on the tip of his tongue, but he knew Mako would kill him for being so rude. And then Grandma would find out and she would probably disown him from the family for even _thinking_ about being so rude to the Earth King of all people. So, he awkwardly grinned and tried to think of how to, as politely as possible, say he’d rather grab a post-meeting lunch with his actual friends instead.

“I could go with too, if you want.” Mako stepped in, attempting to be diplomatic. Bolin tried not to shit talk his brothers’ newest friend (although he was convinced Mako might be a little bit delusional, trying to find a way to cope after babysitting the Earth Prince, now King, for almost 2 and a half years), but they knew that he knew how Bolin felt about Wu.

“No need tough guy! I was, uh, thinking Bolin and I could go to lunch, get to know each other better. Just you know, uh, two bros bonding and all that!” Wu tried to chummily through an arm around Bolin’s shoulders, but he was too tall, so after a moment of awkwardly floundering he end up just awkwardly leaned over with and elbow rested on his arm. Mako would have scrunched down. He was not Mako.

To his surprise though, Mako looked a little put out, like he was sad that he wouldn’t have to spend another hour with Wu, on top of the all-day series of diplomatic meetings they'd all been invited to. Then his expression shifted when he made eye contact with Bolin with a look that very clearly said, _Be nice_. He rolled his eyes in a way that he knew his older brother would interpret as, _Yes Mom_.

“Yeah, okay.” He sighed. “Let's go.” As Korra and Asami wrapped their arms in Mako's and led him away, Wu started leading him the opposite direction. He tried not to wistfully stare behind him in an attempt to be polite, but when he caved in and looked back, he caught Mako also wistfully looking back? Weird, must be a trick of the light of something. He turned back to the Earth King and sighed again.

“Alright where are we going?”

“Well,” Wu suddenly looked a little nervous. “I was thinking why don’t you pick? My treat, of course.”

Bolin thought for a second, and then he smiled. His first instinct was to pick the most expensive restaurant he could think and order a 9-course meal. But then he remembered he was going to lunch with a King, who had practically an endless amount of money, and there was no way even he would be able to eat a 9-course meal in the short time they had for lunch. Then he thought, what about picking something in the complete opposite direction of that?

It was a bit far from Town Hall, but hey, Wu had a driver for a reason, right? He could see the driver get increasingly nervous, while Wu just talked his ear off about nothing, as they approached their destination. A little hole in the wall restaurant, with the best dumplings in Republic City… in the neighborhood with the highest crime rate. When they were kids sometimes Mako and him would save up to buy takeout. Sometimes the owner was nice enough to give them the food for free anyways. He knew Mako would disapprove and would probably chew him out for this later, but he couldn’t help but feel a sort of petty glee at bringing the stuck-up rich kid to the “worst" neighborhood in the city. Mako tried to tell him that Wu wasn’t as bad and as spoiled as he used to be, that he’d really grown and matured in the time that he’d known him. But Bolin just wasn’t buying it.

When King Wu cheerfully thanked the driver and followed Bolin, while somehow remaining completely unaware of the brawl happening across the street, the earth bender couldn’t help but think that he was the same air-headed self-absorbed royal that he had been when checking out his own reflection that day in the Four Seasons hotel. 

“Thank you, my good man!” Wu exclaimed when Bolin held open the door for him. When his back was turned, he rolled his eyes again. Mako _so_ owed him for this. But, standing at the front counter was the owner, Ms. Chen. It had been a long time since he’d actually been back here, so maybe it wouldn’t be so bad if it gave him a chance to catch up.

“Long time no see Ms. Chen; I love what you’ve done with the place!” Bolin’s mouth dropped open. Those words, spoken with such familiarity as if _he_ had been the one who had been eating there since they were a child, had not been spoken by him, but by _the fucking Earth King_.

“Oh, Prince Wu! Or should I say King Wu-"

“Please just Wu is fine.”

“It’s so lovely to see you again! You were right, the plants really do brighten up the space.”

“And I absolutely love the color you picked! I’ve always thought pink is such a happy color.”

The muscles in Bolin’s face had stopped working, his mouth continued to hang open as he looked around the cozy restaurant. Sure enough, there were planter boxes with bright pink flowers in the windows, a couple of terra cotta pots with matching pink flowers at the counter, and some hanging planters around the space with lush vines and ferns overflowing from their pots. He didn’t realize that the conversation had moved on until he felt Wu lightly elbow him in the side.

“Bolin? Your order?” His brows were furrowed, like he was starting to get concerned. The earth bender snapped himself out of it and forced his mind to start working again. “Oh, um, just uh- whatever you’re having I guess.”

“Bolin, dear, you’ve never liked spicy foods.” Ms. Chen stepped in looking equal parts concerned and amused. “I’ll just get you your usual.”

 _What is going on in here on this day?_ He couldn’t help but think as he followed Wu to a booth. His and Mako's booth, their favorite place to sit in the restaurant since they were barely tall enough to reach the counter to order. _Of course, he must have come with Mako. But, wait. Mako? Brought Wu here, of all places?_

“Sooooooo, you’ve been here before?” Bolin struggled to get the words out. He was still struggling to believe that the spoiled prince, now King, had ever been anywhere close to this part of the city, let alone in this specific restaurant, and he also liked spicy food? But weren’t most rich people meals small and bland and overpriced?

“Oh, yes, Mako brought me here-" Okay, so that definitely checked out. “-after a month’s long argument over who had the best dumplings in the city.” What. “Once when I said that a restaurant uptown had the best, he said ‘I’ve had better.’ He thought I didn’t hear him, but I did. I had to pester him for weeks to just tell me where he'd had better dumplings, and then it took me _forever_ to convince him to actually take me here.” Okay, yeah it was all starting to make sense again. “And I have to say, he was absolutely right. Whatever fancy uptown restaurant I said, their dumplings are absolute trash compared to Ms. Chens delectable dumplings.” He smiled up at Ms. Chen herself, who had come over to deliver a couple of glasses of water and some chopsticks wrapped in napkins out of her apron. 

“And it’s been such a delight whenever King Wu comes over.” She either didn’t hear or ignored Wu's protest that she could just call him by his first name. “He’s always so sweet and thoughtful, he even checked up on me after Kuvira’s giant mecha thing destroyed half the city! He offered to pay for repairs and rebuilding. By some miracle, we made it through just fine, but I got him in touch with the owners of the general store down the street, they weren’t so lucky as we were. You should see the inside; it looks so nice now!”

Wu waved his hand dismissively. “It was nothing, it’s the least I could do to help. I would have done more if Raiko hadn’t stepped in to block me from doing exactly what he should have been doing in the first place.

“Well, I still appreciate you thinking about little old me during all the chaos anyways. Now I’ll have your food out in just a few minutes boys.”

As Ms. Chen walked back into the kitchen, Bolin slowly sipped his water, his mind spinning. An ineffectual leader criticizing another ineffectual leader? But now that he thought about it… All Raiko had really done in his term was be the first President, ban Korra from the city several times, then backpedal and name a park after her after she almost died, and prioritize his own reelection over helping the people of Republic City. When he traveled with Kuvira and the Earth Empire soldiers, he heard the way they talked about Wu. About how he wouldn’t be able to hold it together, he’d be the next King Keui and become a puppet king, he would undo all the hard work they did in uniting the country. But then when he actually came into power, he immediately started to put plans in motion to establish democracy and give people a say in their government, to unite them as people and not out of fear for Kuvira. He established sweeping reforms in tax, labor laws, and infrastructure across the Earth Kingdom, despite the protests from every one of his advisors in Ba Sing Se. King Wu had even put measures in place to prevent the next leader from coming in and immediately undoing all the progress that had been made, like his great-aunt had done, overnight, when she took power after her father King Keui had passed.

Bolin had thought that once he’d realized how wrong Kuvira's plan was, that his brother had been right, he had immediately snapped out of the way of thinking he had been indoctrinated in as a soldier of the Earth Empire. But he was starting to realize that maybe there was a part of that mindset still lingering in the back of his mind. After a lingering silence in which he had downed almost half of his glass, he put it down and spoke.

“This is honestly the last place I’d expect a rich kid like you to be.” He said a bit ruder than he'd intended it to be. Wu just chuckled.

“Yeah, your brother was jumpier than I’ve ever seen him, the first time we came here.”

“But… you do know this is like, the worst neighborhood in the city though.”

“Oh, I know.” Wu snorted. “Even if Mako hadn’t told me to try and talk me out of it, there were 5 separate fights across the street our first visit and we were only here for an hour, hour and a half at most. In fact, the one happening when we got here ended right after we sat down, and that’s an entirely new fight going on.” Bolin looked behind him, and sure enough there was an entirely different group of people duking it out.

“But, you’re not scared or anything? I mean, you’re a literal King in the most likely place to get mugged in the entire city.”

“And I’m just as likely to be poisoned at a fancy party, or kidnapped from an upscale hotel, have the air sucked out of my lungs by a rogue air bender in the middle of the Earth palace surrounded by guards and the Dai Le. Besides, in my experience, muggers are much easier to talk to than kidnappers.” Wu casually shrugged.

“What.”

“Someone did try to mug us right outside once, Mako was ready to fight, but I managed to talk both of them down and then just talked with the man. Listened to his troubles, his concerns, hopes and dreams. He was just desperate with nowhere else to turn to make ends meet. After talking with him, I ended up paying his tuition to go to school, and now he’s a healer at Katara Memorial. He was actually one of the field medics on the ground during Kuvira’s attack.” This time Bolin was pretty sure if his jaw could physically drop to the floor it would have.

“Wow…. I bet Mako was pissed.” He whispered, mostly to himself, after a long pause.

“Oh, he absolutely was.” Wu nodded and took a sip of his own water. “Which was absolutely justified considering… Well, I didn’t know what had… what had happened to both of your parents until later.” He took another sip of water and a deep breath. “But, the thing is, my great-aunt taught me growing up that the only citizens we actually care about are the people in the Upper Ring. That the people with the most money and wealth are the people with the most influence. And she had it all wrong. Everyone in the Earth Kingdom from the Upper Ring, Lower Ring, to the desert tribes and little coastal villages, and even the bandits roaming the kingdom. They’re all my citizens, even if they’re criminals or are actively trying to harm me. And if they feel that they have no choices left but to resort to crime, most of the time that means that we, as rulers and as a government, have systematically and repeatedly let them down and hurt our people. In other words, broken the social contract between the monarchy and the people that was established when the Kingdom was first created.”

“Woah…. I had no clue that you thought all th- that you felt that way.” Bolin took another sip of water.

“I mean… I do have a degree in Political Science from RCU.” Bolin almost choked on his water.

“You do?!”

“Yeah, I do.” Wu laughed. “I was just finishing my sophmore year when, well, when everything happened. When they approached me to take over, they called my ideas of peace talks and financial assistance childish, told me I needed to finish my degree, and then eventually they found Kuvira to step in and do it.” He shrugged.

Before Bolin could think of anything to say to that, because yeah peace talks actually sounded _a_ _lot_ better than internment camps when he thought about it, Mrs. Chen came back with their dumplings. They thanked her in unison and then chowed down in tense silence. Wu suddenly looked nervous again for some reason, and Bolin was trying to put the pieces back together after his image of who Wu was had just shattered into a thousand pieces. A 2-dimensional figure, who had suddenly just become a fully fleshed complex human being in the span of a few minutes. After a few dumplings, he cleared his throat.

“So, uh, what did you get?”

“Oh, just fire flakes and mushrooms. Your brother turned me on to them…. What’s your usual?”

“Just pork and cabbage.”

Wu just nodded, seemingly not in the mood to talk anymore, just awkwardly move his dumplings around his plate. Which was super annoying, because now he _wanted_ Wu to talk, which just that morning he would never have believed was something he would say (unless he was being sarcastic). He was finally starting to see what Mako saw in the guy. But Bolin didn’t know what to say to get the conversation going again, usually he didn’t have a problem talking the day away either, but the words to say just weren’t coming to him. Eventually Wu was the first to speak again.

“Look, Bolin, I get the feeling you don’t like me very much, and me just talking about myself for the last ten minutes probably didn’t help. But, there’s something I wanted to get your advice on.” Despite most of the water in his glass being gone, Bolin’s mouth had gone dry. _Wow, I actually feel like a huge jerk right now_ , he realized with a sinking feeling in his stomach. Before he could interject the Earth King continued.

“I’m having a hard time thinking of what to get Mako for his birthday.” Bolin blinked in surprised, that was not at all what he thought this conversation was going to lead up to. “For the past couple years, I just took him out to dinner, his choice. But we also do that all the time, even after he stopped being my bodyguard! And I know he doesn’t like to be showered in fancy gifts, because I’ve already done that a few times too. This year I want to give him something meaningful, that he’ll actually really like. I want to show him how grateful I am that unlike everyone else in my life, he encouraged me to be the real me. Unlike my great-aunt, Upper Ring elites, other students at RCU, Republic City socialites, or literally anyone else I'd ever met in my entire life; he didn’t think I was weird or annoying or stupid when I took off the vapid spoiled prince disguise. He, somehow, actually liked me for me.” Wu at this point was absorbed in nervously playing with the food on his plate.

“I just want to give him a gift that shows how much I appreciate that, and shows how much I lo- care!” The Earth King's eyes snapped open and he looked up panicked, like he had just remembered he was speaking to someone other than himself. “H-how much I care about him. And I can’t think of anything that feels like it will get the message across.”

Bolin thought for a moment, not about the gift, but about how he was _pretty_ sure Earth King Wu had just almost confessed his love for his brother. But when he really stopped to think about it, some things began to make a lot more sense. Like, _a lot_ more sense than before. It suddenly dawned on him that not only was Wu definitely in love with his brother, but that his brother was also definitely in love with Wu. So, this wasn’t going to be just a nice thoughtful gift, this was going to be confession of love here's-my-still-beating-heart-in-a-box type of gift. Whether Wu intended it to be or not.

That’s right, he wasn’t ashamed to admit it, in half a lunch he pulled a full 180°, from hater to matchmaker. Bolin smiled. A gift of love huh?

“You know what you’re right, I didn’t like you.” He couldn’t help but notice the disappointed resignation in the other man’s eyes. “Until today. I never realized that I haven’t actually had a real conversation with you until now. I’m sorry I judged you without giving you a fair shot. You’re actually a lot cooler than I thought.”

“Really?” Wu's entire face brightened up. Bolin could feel his own smile growing.

“Yeah really. And, I have the perfect idea for Mako's gift.”

* * *

After that lunch he had spoken with Wu a lot more. He had actually been invaluable in planning Mako’s surprise birthday party. From venue (“Just have it in the apartment, he’s more comfortable there and it’ll be cozier and more intimate.”), to food (Somehow Bolin didn’t know his brother was vegetarian? Or as Wu put it “If he’s served meat, he won’t say anything, but given a choice he definitely prefers vegetarian options.” Which the Party Planning Committee agreed is basically Mako's way of saying he’s definitely a vegetarian, but too nervous to tell people), to guest list (“Why would you invite Varrick?! He framed your brother for terrorism and had him thrown in jail, while he tried to start a war just so he could profit from it! And tried to screw over Asami!”). The rest of the Party Planning Committee, which (besides Wu) had consisted of him, Asami, Korra, and occasionally Grandma Yin, had all gotten closer to Wu. And when he was out of earshot, they all agreed he and Mako would make a super cute couple. Especially Grandma Yin, but whether it was because she was already planning her grandsons wedding to the Earth King or because she genuinely thought they’d be a good match Bolin couldn’t say. But either way, Grandma Yin was on board.

And also kicking him out of his own kitchen. Or as he usually called it: Mako's Kitchen TM. “Ow, Grandma! But I can help you!” His Grandma just scoffed.

“Okay, well what if you need help finding something then? Hmm?” She scoffed again.

“Please dear, Mako is the only one of my progeny who knows how to properly organize and stock a kitchen! Raava help the rest of you. After I die, he’s the only one allowed to touch the family cookbook!” Her proclamation was met by several groans by his cousin and uncle who had helped Grandma Yin bring dishes and ingredients over. And maybe some giggles from Korra, Asami, and Opal too. “Now if you want to do something useful, then go clean your room!”

“Wha- But Grandma! The door is closed, no one’s even going to be in there!”

“You heard me, now go!” She waved with a wooden spoon, a pot of water set to boil and a skillet warming already on the stove. Bolin groaned and dramatically shuffled towards his bedroom door, but brightened up when Opal volunteered to help.

“And no hanky panky in there! Your Grandmother's here, have some respect.” She shouted before he closed the door. He opened the door slightly.

“Grandma! I would never!” He shouted out the door, then closed it again and frowned. “Drat. That’s exactly what I was going to do.” Opal giggled and rolled her eyes.

“I mean, it’s not like we won’t get a chance later. Besides, the least I could do is help since I, sort of, contributed.” They looked around. It was mostly a mess of both of their clothes (Opal kept most of her non-Air Nomad clothes at his apartment, while the new Air Nation was more chill on the ‘giving up worldly possessions' thing, half of his closet still ended up being Opal's storage space), a few books, some knick-knacks and doodads thrown into the mess. He sighed.

“Yeah, I guess it could use a cleaning.” He picked up some clothes, that he was at least 90% sure were clean and began to fold them.

“Hey, isn’t Wu supposed to be here too? Since he helped plan it and everything.” She said as she followed suit. Bolin smiled sly. “Oh, he’ll be here, all in due time my dear. All in due time.” Opal hummed in response; she was used to his theatrics by now.

“We might not be though; this is going to take forever.” He grumbled after a few minutes of folding and tidying.

“Well, we could just-" The air bender made some arm motions and a gust of wind blew everything on the floor into his closet. She closed the closet doors and shrugged.

“Do you think that’ll work?”

“I mean, it worked for me all the time as a kid.”

“Well, works for me then.” He straightened a few books on his shelf and tidied up his bed before strolling out of his room with Opal. “Alright, we’re all finished. Do you need me to, like, clean Mako's room too or something?”

“No, because Mako actually cleans his room instead of stuffing everything into his closet.” His Grandma tutted, her back turned to him as she washed some vegetables. Korra and Asami had to pause putting up decorations as they looked at each other and doubled over in laughter.

“What?!”

“This isn’t my first time around the Ring dear.”

“Ugh!” He shouted in frustration as he walked back into his room. His Grandma tutted again.

“Just like your grandfather.” Bolin couldn’t see her with his back turned, but could _feel_ the disapproving head shake.

Eventually between the two of them (and a little bit of help from Korra and his cousin Tu when they checked in on them to tease him about getting mercilessly dunked on by his own grandma) they managed to get Bolin's room back in order, just in time for guests to start arriving. Kya, Kai, and Jinora all arrived together, Ikki arriving with Tenzin, Pema, and Bumi not too far behind (They didn’t want Rohan to get cooped up and hyper in their modest sized apartment. And Meelo had convinced them he was ready for more responsibility, so it was his first night babysitting his little brother by himself. Oogi was chilling on the roof, just in case someone needed to fly home really quick.) Bolin elbowed Korra. “Not a word to Kai.”

“Understood.” She solemnly nodded, before turning around. “Hey Kai!”

“Korra, no! I thought we were friends!”

Kai thought Bolin getting in trouble with his grandma was hilarious, at least until Pema and Grandma Yin teamed up for a double knockout, which everyone else _definitely_ thought was hilarious. Toza had arrived somewhere in the middle of that and with no hesitation, or context, jumped right onto the ‘dunk on Bolin' train. Around the time Iroh slipped in, the last to arrive, Korra approached him again.

“Hey, shouldn’t Wu be here by now? Should one of us check in on him?” She looked genuinely concerned.

“Korra, Korra, Korra. Sometimes these things just take time ya know?” Her face scrunched up in annoyed confusion.

“What things?”

Bolin opened his mouth to reply with something even more vague and frustrating, but Ikki shouted “They're here!” from her look out at the window. There was a minute of pure chaos while Grandma Yin tried to quickly place a lid on all the pots and pans she still had going on the stove, everyone started shushing each other, and trying to find a place to hide. They could all hear footsteps down the hall when someone remembered to turn off the lights. By the time he heard Mako's key in the lock, Bolin was shaking in anticipation.

“Chief, I told you I’m fine. I don’t ne-"

“Surprise!” Everyone jumped up in unison. Well, Grandma Yin and Toza just sort of moved from their spot behind the door, but it worked all the same. Bumi, to his brother’s dismay, had snuck in a noisemaker and _apparently_ had decided not to share. Kai and Ikki had also snuck in some confetti poppers that they also hadn’t thought to share. Mako shouted in surprise and instinctively jumped into a fighting stance, fists up, feet light. Just how Toza had taught them back when they first started training in the arena.

“Happy birthday big bro!” Bolin shouted as he grabbed his brother in a hug and spun him around.

“Uh, Chief?” Mako questioned as he was spun, still confused and tense like his body was still ready for a fight while this new information caught up to his mind.

“Happy birthday kid.” Lin Beifong smirked and leaned against the door frame. No one, least of all Mako himself, could tell if his face looked more betrayed or confused, or an equal combination of both. When Bolin put him down the air kids rushed in to hug him and Pabu climbed up his back to curl around his neck like a furry scarf.

“It’s a surprise party silly! Haven’t you ever had a surprise party before?” Ikki asked as she tried her best to squeeze the air out of him with just her arms and no bending. “Uh, no I haven’t actually.” Mako smiled awkwardly. “What am- what am I supposed to do?”

Ikki gasped and instead of answering the question rounded on Kai. “I told you we should have gotten more confetti!” Mako glanced over the heads of the kids still hugging him and down at his floors.

“Uh, I think this was actually the perfect amount of confetti, no more confetti necessary.”

Korra hip-checked Kai and nudged Jinora and Ikki out of the way for her hug. Bolin could hear her whisper, “Relax dude, it’s not like we’re going to make _you_ sweep up confetti on your own birthday.” Asami wasn’t too far behind to join in on the hug. Bolin was still buzzing with excitement and grabbed all of them up into another hug. When he let them go Mako made the rounds greeting everyone else, but Bolin could tell his eyes kept roaming the room, hopeful to see a certain someone only to find them not there. But he hadn’t asked yet, so Bolin wasn’t going to say anything about it, just not yet at least. He ended his greetings rounds in the kitchen, Pabu of course still draped around his neck, and gave Grandma Yin a kiss on the head.

“Are they making you cook in here all by yourself Grandma?” Mako immediately jumped in to help her finish cooking. “We offered to help!” Tu shouted from the living room.

“They didn’t make me do anything, dear. It’s just that my only reliable help should be out there enjoying his own party, now shoo, go!” She shooed him off with a dish towel, then draped it back over her shoulder. Which was something he was pretty sure he had only seen Mako do until he had met their family in Ba Sing Se. He wasn’t entirely sure if it meant that Mako was like their grandma or was actually just a grandma himself. Everyone continued to mingle, drink, eat some chips (Mako kept getting kicked out of the kitchen about every 10 minutes when he would try to help Grandma Yin) for about a half hour until they heard a loud bang on the door, but close to the ground. Almost like someone had kicked it. Bolin just so happened to be sitting near the door, so he was the first to see Wu standing there with a card board box looking very out of breath and extremely frazzled. His driver was standing behind him with a carefully balance set up of boxes and bags so tall Bolin couldn’t see his face.

Mako's face lit up when Wu walked in, but he quickly remembered he was in a group of people and tried to quickly flip back into an aloof neutral expression. But at this point he really wasn’t fooling anybody. Seriously, Bolin could see Lin, Bumi, and Toza taking bets with each other over in the corner.

“Hi Mako! Happy birthday! Sorry I was late, there were some, um, some delays in getting your present.” Wu tried to speak out all in one breath as he held the box out to the birthday boy.

“Hey Wu! No worries, you didn’t have to go through all this tr-"

“Are you going to open your present? You should open your present.” The Earth King interrupted. Mako, now fully holding the box, started to look concerned.

“Well, I was going to- Wu are you okay? You didn’t run up the stairs or something did you?”

“Yeah, and I’m pretty sure we were going to do presents later?” Korra added, just as confused as everyone else in the room. Wu shook his head.

“You should open it now.” At first Mako looked at him skeptically, but as he started to realize that there were coin sized holes evenly spaced near the top, he could feel the tiniest thump reverberate through the box. He had already been sitting on the couch (where Korra and Kai had attempted to physically restrain him from drifting back into the kitchen), so he gently set the box on the coffee table in front of him and started to carefully open the top.

“Really?” Mako gave Wu a deadpan look after he had peeked inside the box, Bolin could see the flash of panic cross Wu's face before Mako broke out in a barely-restrained smile. Bolin tried to subtly give Wu a thumbs up in encouragement. As he reached in Korra, Asami, and the kids peeked over him into the box. They all let out different levels and gasps and squeals of excitement. As Mako pulled out a tiny black kitten, barely as big as the size of his hand, with a bright pink ribbon tied in a bow around its neck, the entire room broke out in a chorus of ‘awe’s,’ except for Toza who burst into laughter. As he cradled the tiny kitten, he started to reach his other hand in, but Pabu jumped into his lap to place his front paws on the edge of the box and chattered angrily into the box.

“ _Pabu_ ,” The fire ferret only shrank back a little at Mako's reprimanding tone. “Be nice.” Pabu protested again as he reached into the box and pulled out a very fluffy, very orange kitten, with a similar very bright pink bow. The tiny orange fluff ball let out a tiny meow of confusion as the fire ferret got in its face. His back arched up and he growled in response. “ _Pabu_! I said _be nice_. You’ll always be the original baby, but these are _actual babies_ , so you have to nice and you have to be gentle with them okay?” He whispered to the fire ferret, who up until 3 minutes ago had been an only child. Pabu looked a little guilty, but most dejected and upset. Bolin scooped him up placed him on his own shoulder. “Hey buddy, there’s no replacing you, you’ll always be our #1 fire ferret. I bet you guys will be best buddies in no time.” He whispered. Bolin tried not to laugh and rub it in as Pabu sadly rested his head on Bolin’s shoulder and sighed as they watched the kittens try to climb up Mako.

“Hey little buddy, didn’t mean to encroach upon your turf. Sorry I didn’t talk to you about it first.” Wu leaned over, having finished dismantling the giant number of packages his driver had been carrying, and slipped Pabu one of the treats he had started to keep on hand, just for him. Pabu chittered, annoyed but temporarily appeased, as he grabbed his treat and ran over to his little bed that they had for him in the living room (there was also one in each of their rooms, one in the bathroom, and a perch for him in the kitchen. Bolin had bought none of them, but each time they had _mysteriously_ appeared just so happened to always be a few days after Mako's pay day.), where he could observe the entire situation from a distance.

“Oh, look at you, you’re so _tiny_.” Mako cooed in a voice he was absolutely sure no one in this room except for Pabu and himself, and probably Toza, had ever heard him use. Or probably even thought he was capable of. “Where do you think you’re going l'il baby?” He gently scooped up the orange kitten, that had already successfully climbed Mt. Mako and was trying to climb up the back of the couch and onto the kitchen island right behind. Which just so happened to be where Grandma Yin had started to put all the finished food. “That’s not for you, you need kitten food, not people food, silly baby.” The kitten meowed in protest.

“It looks like he would beg to differ, but as a medical professional I’d say I have to agree.” Kya leaned over to scratch between its ears with a finger. Toza had his head in his hands, still chuckling. “This is going to be so much worse than baby Pabu.” He muttered. At that Kai's face lit up with pure unadulterated glee. ‘What' he mouthed as he looked over to Bolin for confirmation. At Bolin's sage nod, he covered his mouth, but they could still hear the kid as he started to laugh.

“Wu, they’re so adorable, this is amazing. Thank you.” Mako smiled as one of the kittens starting pawing at his face and the other tried to fight a button on his jacket. “Oh, I, uh, you're welcome big guy.” Wu stammered, happy, but clearly not expecting this level of a reaction. The kittens then also made the rounds since almost everyone wanted a chance to pet them. Even Lin gave them an awkward pat on the head, as glared at Kya's very smug smile. Tenzin held one of them, very firmly telling his children “No,” then after staring at it for a few seconds said “Your mother will probably say no,” then after several seconds more settled on “Maybe.” Iroh shared some fire bender tricks to give the best back scritches and warm belly rubs. But Bolin knew they had really been accepted into the family when Grandma stood over them in the box they’d been put back into, hands on her hips, and said “You’re in good hands here, but you just let me know if they're not giving you enough food. Grandma will make sure your well- fed don't you worry about that little ones.”

They decided the confine the kittens, now named Midnight and Spice, to Mako's room for the time being. Since the kittens were so small, they were all worried of them getting underfoot with so many people in the apartment. Plus, Wu pointed out that you’re supposed to confine kittens in a smaller room in the house while they adjust to their new home anyway. All the air kids, and Bumi, followed Wu and Mako into the room as they set up the kittens with their litter box and some food, which was included in just a few of the additional packages Wu had brought. After a few minutes Tenzin had followed them in, with the excuse of going to “supervise.” When the group came out with the promise of food, Bolin pretended not to hear Bumi and Ikki's conspiratorial whispers of, “If we just get one, and bring it home, he won’t be able to say no.”

Their kitchen table only fit about four people max, so everyone besides Grandma Yin, Toza, Lin, and Tenzin sat on the couch and chairs. Or if that wasn’t available, on the floor around the coffee table. “The Olds Table" as Kai had dubbed it, which earned him a hard glare from the police chief across the room, naturally starting debating about pro-bending (Grandma had become a HUGE fan after moving to Republic City. Her first favorite team had been, of course, the Fire Ferrets, but in the most recent season had declared the newest all-women team, The Lionturtle Tamers, her new favorite). They had offered Wu's driver a plate, but he just munched on a few appetizers before leaving to go enjoy a few free hours. Ikki and Bumi had roped Kai, Jinora, Opal, and Kya into their conspiratorial whispering. Asami was telling Iroh, Wu, and Mako and Bolin's uncle about some new technological advances that were going to be released by Future Industries soon, and Mako, Bolin, Korra, and Tu sort of drifted between that conversation and the debate on pro-bending.

“Grandma, what are you doing?” At Mako's shout, Bolin turned from a particularly heated debate on which teams were most likely to make to the championships, to see his Grandma trying to sneak into Mako’s room with a plate. “I told them I’d make sure they’ll be well-fed, didn’t I?” She ignored Mako’s indignant squawk and slipped into the room. “Just be glad you don’t live at the house with us, they’d be the fattest cats in the world.” Tu muttered to him.

“Who’s to stay they still won’t be? She has a key to the apartment, remember?” Mako muttered back.

“If you need me to, I could always change the locks for you guys.” Asami whispered over to them.

“I’m not going to change the locks on my grandma Asami!” Mako whisper-shouted. “Not yet, at least.” 

“They’re not getting dessert too Grandma.” He said, arms crossed, when she emerged several minutes later with a completely clean plate. “Of course not dear, the chocolate would poison those sweet innocent little babies!” Before Mako could breathe a sigh of relief she added, “If I had _known_ ahead of time, I would have made something they can enjoy too.” At the same time their uncle loudly complained “Uh, what happened to the no-pets-in-the-house-ever woman who raised me?” Bolin whispered to his brother “I think I know where you got it from.” He was answered with a sharp poke in his kidneys. _Totally worth it._

After dessert, despite his embarrassment and insistence that no one needed to do anything for him ever, the Party Planning Committee made Mako open the rest of his presents. Ikki cheerfully volunteered to stand by him and help collect all the wrapping paper and garbage but, as they would find out later, her main goal was to take the bows and ribbons off and decorate Mako with them. Toza ended up going first, if only because he didn’t bother wrapping or getting a card, and handed Mako a couple of seasonal passes to the pro-bending arena. Korra was excited to go next, she had gotten Mako a Southern Water Tribe heavy fur lined jacket with matching mittens, but instead of the traditional Water Tribe blue it was dyed a deep burgundy color.

“Because you need a _real_ winter jacket.” Korra smirked. “And Mom and Dad sent you a card too, here.” Mako opened the card and they saw a folded slip of paper inside, when he read it his eyes widened for a moment before he folded it back up.

“What is it? What is it?” Ikki asked excitedly.

“Oh, it’s just a letter, a really nice letter, but it’s just really _really_ long so I’ll just, uh, I’ll just finish it later.” He nervously replied.

“Are you sure? I could have sworn Mom said she included her rec-" Bolin quickly elbowed Korra and quietly shushed her. As they moved on the next present (a new motorcycle helmet, goggles, and jacket from Lin, with some new ointments and lotions for his scars added in by Kya), he leaned over towards her ear to whisper. “Grandma gets really jealous when he gets recipes from other families.” Korra quickly covered her snicker with a fake cough. After that was an air bison whistle from Bumi.

“Uh, not saying I don’t like it, but why?”

“You never know when you might need it!"

“Okay.” Mako decided not to argue, let Ikki use the attached string to put it on him like a necklace, and moved on. Next from Iroh, came a giant box of authentic Fire Nation food, spices, and snacks; as well as a few books on Fire Nation history, lore, and mythology. And, according to Ikki, it had the fanciest wrapping paper and the prettiest bows. Then, from Jinora, a limited edition set of one of his favorite book series she had previously let him borrow. After a nudging from Jinora, Kai got up and nervously stood in front of Mako and thrust out a little card in front of him.

“Here.” He stared very intently at the houseplant behind Mako. “It’s a ‘I told you so Kai' card, so now you don’t actually have to _say it_ , you can just punch a hole in the card.” Mako bit his lip, then covered his mouth as his body started to shake with laughter. “I know it’s stupid.” Kai looked down at his feet as his cheeks started to get red.

“No, it’s not.” Mako jumped to his feet and put his hands on Kai’s shoulders. “Kai, this is _genuinely_ one of the most useful gifts I’ve ever gotten. Thank you.” He ignored the younger kid's “Ugh, okay, don’t be gross about it, ew” as he wrapped him in a hug. He chuckled. “Can you make one for everyone else too?” A mixed chorus of laughter and offended shouts filled the room as he let Kai go sit back down, where Jinora whispered an “I told you so" in his ear.

At this point, some of the ribbons had fallen off when he got up, so Wu stepped in to help Ikki rearrange them and show her how to fold some pieces of wrapping paper to look like flowers to add in as well. Ikki herself, had recently started to delve into modern art, which focused less on the image itself but the emotion a series of shapes, lines, and patterns could produce. She gave him a three-piece framed (fancy frames picked out by Ikki, paid for by Tenzin and Pema) set of an art series she called _Mako_. Which as she said, considering how empty the walls in his room were, she was glad she had expanded it to three pieces instead of the originally planned one. Wu whole-heartedly agreed and thanked her on Mako's behalf.

Tu had saved up for tickets to the first match of the championships for him, Mako, and Bolin to go, but he hadn’t realized _someone_ would show him up with season passes. “I’ve got a few connections.” Toza shrugged. Which Bolin knew meant that he had probably used one of the pieces of blackmail he had saved up over the years on the arena's owner. Mako reassured his cousin they’d still use the tickets and go together, just the three of them.

Asami gave him a box of clothes, because “You need _real_ clothes to wear under your _real_ winter jacket.” Mako rolled his eyes and tried to argue his current clothes were fine (read: threadbare and re-stitched several times over), but Wu cut him off to again whole-heartedly agree and thank Asami on his behalf.

Tenzin and Pema had also gotten him a few history and philosophy books. All of the kids, and Korra, groaned in protest as Tenzin tried to start a philosophy discussion right there and then, but thankfully he got the hint and conceded it was probably a better discussion for another time. Opal handed Mako a card, which he opened and quicker than he had opened it, shut again. His entire face turned pink as he glared at her. “Just a-another _really_ nice letter, that I will. Read. Later.” He said through gritted teeth when someone asked what it was.

“Uh, sweetie, what did you get him?” Bolin whispered to her.

“I’ll tell you later.” She whispered back with a sly grin. Bolin couldn’t help but smile back, he had no clue what it was, but he had a feeling he was going to love whatever it was his girlfriend was scheming. There weren’t many people left who still had gifts to give, he asked Wu about the pile of packages he had come in with but he said it was just more cat stuff, the kittens were the main gift. Grandma insisted on “saving the best, well now second-best I suppose, for last.” So, Bolin's turn it was. His present was a personal coupon booklet. It was originally was going to be hand drawn, but at the _very_ strong suggestion, almost insistence really, of his boss President Moon he had gone to a printer for help. He had to begrudgingly admit the end result did look much better, and significantly more legible, than his original booklet. It had several coupons, for example: Bolin Get Me Takeout (any restaurant of Mako's choice, valid for 5 uses), Bolin I Need a Hug (reusable for infinity), and Bolin I Need the Apartment on -fill in date(s)/time(s) here- (*wink wink*).

Mako laughed and immediately redeemed one out of his infinity uses on ‘Bolin I Need a Hug.’ Bumi sniffled and hugged Tenzin, who only half-heartedly protested, and Kya together. Once the hug fest was over, Grandma Yin walked over with her gift which Mako carefully unwrapped to reveal a leather-bound book.

“No way! I thought you said he gets it _after_ you die!” Tu shouted before Mako, who now looked very concerned, could open it. Grandma lightly swatted his cousin on the head. “It’s not the original! Although of course, when I pass, that will still go to you my dear Mako.” She held up her hand when she saw him about to interject with concern. “Not that it’s going to happen anytime soon. But I was looking through the original family cookbook, that’s been passed through our family for generations, and I realized it was a bit messy and disorganized. There were notes all over the place, some that weren’t really helpful or were just plain incorrect. So, I created a new copy, it’s much neater and a bit more streamlined than the original. I left some room for you to add your own recipes, since I know you have a much more diverse palette than my own. I also cut out the recipes that are frankly inedible, and I made sure to mark your father’s old favorites in there as well.”

Bumi immediately burst into tears, Wu and Bolin followed not soon after. Even Mako's eyes were a little wet as he stood back up to hug his grandma. Bolin could see them whispering to each other, but couldn’t hear them over Bumi's wailing.

“And all _I_ got him was a bison whistle!”

* * *

When the party started to die down Grandma Yin was the first to say her goodbyes. Toza offered his arm to walk her out and she happily accepted the offer, despite Tu's grumbling that he and his father could walk her out just fine. Tenzin, Pema, Bumi, and the kids left not too soon after. Soon after Iroh left, training exercises with new cadets at dawn, Mako and Wu had decided to “check on the kittens,” as they each carried in an armful of cat toys, and hadn’t been back out since. Bolin had started to clean up, which is something he totally would have done anyways, even if Grandma Yin hadn’t sternly told him to before she left. Korra, Asami, Opal, Kya, and Lin were all still hanging out in the living room and enjoying the quieter atmosphere after having so many people around at once. Korra was sitting on Asami’s lap on a chair, Lin was sitting on the couch with her feet propped up on the coffee table and an arm around Kya, Opal on the other side of the couch and occasionally getting up to help Bolin.

He was pretty much done on the living room, but now he was left with the kitchen. Again, it was very much Mako's Kitchen that he barely stepped foot in. Not quite sure where to start, he figured putting away the leftovers was as good a place to start as any. Then dishes, so many dirty dishes, but at least he knew where the silverware and dishes went, then Mako could just put away the pots and pans and whisks and that gadget he didn’t know what it was called but he was pretty sure it did something to something (he would later learn, and then almost immediately forget, it’s called a garlic press) in their very specific spots late, or in the morning. Bolin had roped Korra into helping with the dishes, seeing as how she could rinse and dry them much quicker than he could, what with being able to water bend, air bend, and fire bend and all. They had gotten a good chunk of the dishes done, when Bolin got to one of Mako's Special Skillets. He vaguely remembered it had some very specific washing instructions. He almost left it for his brother to do, but he could have sworn wash as soon as possible was one of the very specific instructions, and he wanted Mako to keep enjoying the night without having one of his favorite cooking tools ruined. But he also couldn’t remember if Mako had said this skillet should soak in water before washing, or should not soak before washing.

Nobody else present seemed to know either, so Bolin figured it wouldn’t hurt to at least ask Mako what to do with it. When he opened up his bedroom door to ask, he was very glad he had left the skillet on the counter, because he definitely would have dropped it on his foot. He gasped at the sight before him: Mako leaning over Wu, who was sat at the edge of his bed, one knee on the bed, one hand curled in Wu's hair, the other at his waist, and _his tongue down the Earth Kings throat_.

“Mako and Wu are making out!” He blurted without thinking. In unison Korra, Asami, Opal, and Kya all let out an “OoooOoooo.” Wu did not look the least bit disturbed, but maybe a little disheveled, and didn’t even seem to notice anyone else was there until Mako whipped his head around.

“Bolin! Get out of my room!” He shouted like every stereotypical teenager in a mover. With his older brother now moving towards him like an angry mooselion, Bolin quickly shut the door again and retreated.

“Oh shit, were they really? I thought you were kidding!” Korra laughed.

“Full-on _swapping spit_.”

Lin snorted. “Why do you think I’ve had my feet up for the last half hour?” Kya sighed and rolled her eyes as she fished out her wallet and started counting bills. After counting out what looked like quite a large sum of money, she handed the wad of cash over to Lin, who very smugly started to count it. Once she seemed to be satisfied it was all there, she stood up and stretched. “Well, with that I think it’s time to call it night, don’t you sweetheart?”

“Smug bastard.” Kya muttered before giving the group good night hugs. “Good night lovebirds!” She shouted to Mako's door as they walked out.

“Take tomorrow off kid, but I better not be able to see any hickey's when you come back to work!” Lin chuckled as she followed her wife out the door. After a few minutes Mako peeked his head out of his bedroom door, his face beet red.

“Are they gone?” He whispered.

“For now.” Korra snorted. Asami rolled her eyes.

“Yes Mako, they’re gone. You’re safe from the mean middle-aged lesbians.”

“At least until you go back to work.” Korra helpfully added.

“Ha-ha real funny, I think you missed your calling as a circus clown.” A slightly less red in the face Mako came back into the living, Wu's hand clasped in his own.

“You know what? Because this is your day, I’m going to let that one slide.”

“Wow, truly the most merciful Avatar in all of history.” He deadpanned.

“Sooo, don’t want to interrupted the snark fest going on here, and also congratulations on finally kissing each other, but I did have a genuine question.” Bolin interrupted from the kitchen, and held up the skillet. “How do I wash this?”

“Really, Bo-"

“Oh, the cast iron skillet! I’ve got this baby, don’t worry about it.” Wu kissed Mako on the cheek before going to help Bolin in the kitchen. Korra and Asami let loose another ‘OoooOooo.’ Opal scooched over on the couch to make room for Mako, whose face had gone completely red again.

“Aw, that’s so sweet. I think you guys are so cute together.” She said innocently.

“Yeah, I had a feeling you’d say something like that.” Mako glared at Opal, but there was no heat behind it.

“Yeah, I can’t believe you managed to find an even richer sugar daddy than Asami and I put together.” Korra teased.

“ _Wow_ , really Korra?”

“Hey, I said you were safe from the middle-aged lesbians, I never said anything about being safe from the 20-something bisexuals.” Asami smirked.

In the kitchen, Bolin was only half listening to Wu's instructions as he watched Wu just do it himself anyways. “So, wait, how do _you_ of all people know this?”

“Because I bought it for him. Or at least one of them, it looks like he’s collected a few actually.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah, once when he was still my bodyguard, we went out to dinner at one of those hibachi grills, where they make the food right in front of you. One of the chefs was using a cast iron pan for something, they weren’t even at our table, but he started to tell me about how it’s supposed to heat up more evenly, it’s supposed to make food taste better, etc., etc.” A goofy smile spread across his face.

“It was the first time as my bodyguard that I had gotten him to actually talk with me. Then one day, a while after, he was telling me how he, a fire bender, had managed to burn his hand because the handle of his cheap pan broke in the middle of cooking. So, I just,” Wu shrugged as he started drying the skillet. “Bought him one of the cast iron ones I remembered him telling me about. They're well-made and all one piece, and much less likely to burn my favorite bodyguard, is what I think I told him at the time.” He finished drying and opened up one of the cabinets and grabbed a bottle of oil and a small clean cloth. Bolin stared at him in confused wonder as he poured some oil in the skillet and used the cloth to spread it all over it.

“Man, you’ve _really_ got it bad for my brother.”

“Tell me about it.” Wu laughed as they walked back to the living room together.

“Okay, so now that that’s done, I have an even more legitimate and super important question to ask.”

“What now Bo?” Mako sighed, pretending to be annoyed.

“Is Toza our new Grandpa?”

* * *

Bolin stretched as he returned from brushing his teeth, very tired, and very much ready for bed. Opal was spending the night; she was already in her pajamas and tucked under the covers, Pabu curled up by her feet.

“Hey sweetie,” He suddenly remembered something from earlier that night as he was getting comfortable under the covers himself. “what exactly did you get Mako for his birthday?” She giggled.

“Technically Mom paid for it, but it was my idea. It’s a trip for two, to Lovers Palace Resort and Spa on Ember Island. And I signed the card ‘A romantic trip for two, for you and your soon-to-be-boo, Wu!’ Love, the Zaofu Beifongs.”

He and Opal stared at each other for a second before bursting into laughter, and not for the first nor the last time, glad that the walls on this apartment were much thicker than the ones in his and Mako’s first apartment.

* * *

Wu was pretty sure he had died and ascended to some higher plane of the Spirit Realm. At least the warm fingertips brushing up the side of his rib cage, the mouth eagerly tasting his own so hot it was almost on the verge of burning, the soft silky hair grasped in his hands; all certainly felt like a spiritual experience. And this was only… was this first base? Wu never quite got that analogy if he was being honest. But if he went all the way with Mako, he was pretty sure he would die from happiness. With his eyes closed, he let himself be lost in the spiritual reckoning that was making out with Mako. Under the covers in Mako's bed. In Mako's old shirt and sweatpants that were just a few sizes too big for him but sooo comfortable and smelled really nice. Being held _by Mako_.

But suddenly the mouth against his stopped, and after a pause withdrew with a weird grunt. _Oh?_ Wu eyes were still closed, but he could feel Mako start the shake with laughter. _Oh no. This is it; it was all some cruel prank. This is the happiest I’ve ever been and it was nothing to him, how could Mako ever feel the same way about me as I do about him?_ But when he gathered the courage to open his eyes, instead of being met with the cruel sneer of rejection he expected, there was a little orange puffball where Mako’s face had just been. Correction, the little orange puffball he now recognized as Spice, had curled up on top of Mako's face. He couldn’t help the giggles that escaped from his body, equal parts in relief and at the adorable sight in front of him.

“You're very cute, you big silly, but we were sort of in the middle of something here.” Curled up, Spice easily fit in the palm of Mako's hand. He scooped him up and tried to move him a little bit further down the bed. The fluffy kitten meowed in protest as it scrambled back up and plopped back down in front of his face and began to purr. “Um, sorry, we'll have to put this on hold I guess.” Mako’s apology was muffled by the kitten fur now filling his mouth. Wu chuckled. “It's okay, we’ll have plenty of time to reschedule.” He propped himself up on an elbow so he could lean over the kitten to give Mako a kiss on the cheek. Then he gave Spice a kiss, curled up like he was, it was hard to tell where his head was, but wherever it was that he gave a kiss to, was fluffy and soft. And he blew a kiss to the end of the bed, because he was pretty sure Midnight was somewhere around their legs, but it was dark and she was a black cat and it was very hard to see her. “She’s behind my knee.” Came the muffled guidance from his… was he his boyfriend? Since that was a question for a time when they were more awake, he leaned over and sure enough there was a little circular spot that looked like it led into a void of nothingness behind Mako’s leg. He kissed his finger tips and gently patted the void, who also started to purr, to transfer the kiss, before he got back under the covers and cuddled as close to Mako as Spice would allow.

* * *

Seeing Mako play with the kittens was almost like watching a whole other person. He looked happier, younger, more carefree. Before when they had first brought Midnight and Spice into the room, he hadn’t noticed it. The kids, Bumi, and Tenzin were also there, and he had been more focused on helping Mako set up their food and litterbox. But now, with just them in the room, it was impossible not to see. It made his heart hurt a bit, because he didn’t think he could have fallen any more in love with the man than he already had. But it was like the ground had suddenly opened up underneath him and he was falling all over again.

He wasn’t sure how long they had been in there to “check” on the kittens, but even he could tell the kittens were starting to get tired from the eventful day. Midnight was already fast asleep on the soft cat bed they had put on the floor in the corner (that he made absolutely sure he ripped the price tag off before Mako saw, because he was absolutely sure Mako would kill him for how much money he had spent on it), Spice was belly up on the edge of it as he lazily swatted at the stuffed mouse on a string Mako was swinging in front of him. When he caught it and started to kick and bite at it with renewed energy, Mako let go of the string and chuckled.

“I always loved cats when I was little. I used to always beg my parents for a pet, a cat, a fire ferret, a dog, bird, anything. But, I’m pretty sure I remember cat being at the top of the list. I can’t believe I never thought of going out to adopt some myself, thank you Wu, really. This… means a lot to me.” Mako was looking at him so earnestly, he looked so open and happy and vulnerable in a way that he had only really seen in brief flashes that were too few and far between. But unrestrained and focused on him with such dazzling intensity that Wu simultaneously couldn’t get enough of and wasn’t entirely sure he could handle it all.

“Oh, uh, you’re welcome old sport. I have to admit I was 100% sure about it, but I had a feeling that you'd-"

“You asked Bolin for help didn’t you.”

“Yes, I asked Bolin for help.” Wu sighed.

“I had a feeling.” Mako smiled. “I’m glad you two are getting along.” Wu smiled back.

“Yeah, me too.” They sat on the floor in silence for a minute, as they watched Spice decide he was done playing with his ‘prey’ and snuggle up beside his sister. “Sorry again I was late.”

“It’s okay.” Mako shrugged.

“I went to the pet store before picking up the kittens, but I didn’t realize how much _stuff_ they need. And there were so many cute toys for them. And they even had little cat clothes! I was pretty sure you wouldn’t be a fan of those, and it was _very_ hard for me not to buy any. Me! Not buy clothes Mako!” The fire bender chuckled, no doubt remembering all the planned and unplanned shopping trips he had been dragged along on in the time he had known Wu.

“And I had already chosen the kittens last week, but the shelter I got them from is also a clinic, and they were short staffed today. And right after I came in, someone came in with an emergency visit so I had to wait until someone was available to get the kittens. But their poor dog’s leg was broken! So, I was more than happy to wait while that poor little doggy went to emergency surgery. I was actually in the waiting room with the owner, and they were crying so I tried to comfort them, and then I started crying because that poor dog Mako! Then when someone was available, I had the kittens get one last check-up before they left to make sure they had a clean bill of health before I brought them to their new home. But I was still crying, the dog will be okay but it was still sad to think about, so I had to get it together because I didn’t want to stress out the kittens on the ride over. I wanted them to be calm and relaxed for-mphf!"

Mako's face was suddenly right on his face. Mako’s hands were suddenly holding the sides of his face. Mako's mouth was suddenly… Mako was… Mako was kissing him. Mako. Kissing. Him. He couldn’t help the moan that escaped his mouth, he didn’t really care who heard him. He could be back on his embarrassment of a coronation day, standing in front of his great-aunt, on a stage with everyone in the entire Earth Kingdom’s eyes staring into him. He did not care one bit. The only thing he cared about at that very moment was that _Mako_ was kissing _him_.

He did manage to bite his lip to stop the whine that almost escaped his own mouth when the other man pulled away. All the confidence, passion, _heat_ that he had just poured into that spur-of-the-moment kiss had dissipated to be replaced by wide-eyed panic.

“Oh shit. I didn’t- I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to-shit.” Mako’s words became muffled as he smacked a hand to his mouth. He stood up and began to anxiously pace his room. Wu, not quite sure if Mako was talking to him or himself, slowly got up and moved to set at the edge of the bed.

“Shit, you fucking- you fucking _did it again_ , good job. You always have to just go around and-and mess everything up don’t you? Ugh, why do you always have to go and kiss your friends? He muttered to himself, at this point Wu had determined Mako was definitely talking to himself, as he continued to pace.

“Mako, it’s okay!” But Mako didn’t seem to hear him, suddenly lost in a sea of doubts and insecurities. “Mako!” As the fire bender passed by him, Wu grabbed his wrist and pulled him towards him with, frankly, a lot more strength than either of them would have expected. But it did the trick and brought Mako low enough that Wu could bring his hand to the back of his neck and crash their lips together. Wu tried to pour everything he felt into this kiss, the happiness that they both felt the same way, the inner calm he felt whenever he was around Mako, the love and affection that steadily been threatening to pour out of him for the past year, if not longer. He wasn’t sure how much of that exactly had been communicated, especially considering he had just learned he wasn’t nearly as good a kisser as Mako, but it seemed to do the trick of snapping him out of his funk.

“You didn’t mess anything up Mako.” He whispered when they broke apart.

“Really?”

“Really.”

“Are-are you sure?” He whispered so softly it came out more like a breath of air.

“I’m sure, I swear. And for the record, Korra and Asami have both admitted that _they_ were the ones who kissed _you_. Although, I’m honored to be the first friend that you actually initiated the kiss with… that I know of, at least.” Mako leaned his forehead on Wu's and laughed. A sweet joyful laugh that Wu wanted to hear all the time, forever and forever. Then he was kissing him again. And again. And again. Then Mako almost leaned too far over and almost fell on Wu, but he propped his knee up on the bed to brace himself and he was kissing Wu all over again. Between the hand on his cheek, the hand drifting down to his waist, and Mako practically in his lap; Wu felt like he was lost in time and space.

He snapped back to reality when he felt Mako move away and shout. “Get out of my room Bolin!” He heard a bang as the door was quickly closed. Mako returned to him sheepish and pink-faced. Wu smiled and held out his hand to pull him back towards him. He had been expecting Mako to take a couple of steps closer, not for Mako to put both knees up on the bed and plop onto his lap. Not that he was complaining. It actually felt nice, really nice. He felt a thrum of giddiness in his chest at the realization that Mako felt comfortable enough with him to allow himself to be vulnerable like that. Even after his brother had just walked in on them, and loudly announced their coupling to practically everyone in the building.

As he thought that, he could even hear Korra say “Oh shit, were they really?” and Bolin describe what he saw as “swapping spit” (gross, Bolin). Mako's face got a little bit pinker and he suddenly couldn’t look Wu in the eyes.

“I mean they’re not wrong.” Wu rubbed their noses together as Mako groaned in embarrassment. “Not that I’m complaining,” He chuckled. “You taste pretty great.”

Mako snorted. “That’s because I taste like Grandma's cooking.”

“Hmmm, maybe.” Wu smiled slyly. “But there was also something else in there, I just couldn’t quite place. I think I might need another ta-"

“Good night lovebirds!” Came Kya's muffled voice through the door. Mako's face shifted from pink to red, he groaned again as he covered his face with his hands.

“Take tomorrow off kid, but I better not be able to see any hickey's when you come back to work!” Lin’s amused shout was only slightly less muffled than her wife's. Mako’s voice was a bit clearer to Wu, but still muffled by his hands.

“I already have off tomorrow!”

* * *

The sound of soft whispering and quiet laughter eased Wu from his slumber. He was less shocked than he thought he would be, to find he was not in his own bed, but that may have been because it just felt so _right_ to wake up next to Mako. (Not to mention he’d been fantasizing about what it might be like, since at least a year and a half after Mako had first become his bodyguard).

“Sorry, didn’t mean to wake you up.”

Wu yawned. “No worries, wh-" He must have subconsciously moved to roll and shift closer to the other man, because no sooner did his foot start to move to follow the motion, he felt a slight weight throw itself down on it. Blinking in surprise, he looked down to the end of the bed to find Midnight crouched on the covers over his foot. What he, correctly, assumed to be Mako's foot twitched and the kitten shifted to face it, ears moving back as it crouched down again. His foot twitched twice more and both kittens pounced on it, Midnight from her spot on Wu's foot, and Spice from his hidden spot behind Mako's other foot.

“Is this what you’ve been doing with your morning?” Wu smiled and wrapped his arm around the other man’s chest. He moved his own foot, and neither kitten hesitated to body slam themselves onto the blanket-covered lump. As they started to bite and claw at it (Mako's covers were too thick for them to do any real damage while they were still this small), he gently shook his foot which, judging from their reactions, absolutely blew their minds that their prey was still moving. They both chuckled as Mako slowly moved his foot closer to them and popped it up again right next to Wu's. The kittens spooked, and jumped straight up into the air.

Wu looked over at Mako, his hand covering his mouth muffling the sound of his laughter. He brought his hand up to the other man’s chin, and let the weight of his fingers gently turn Mako's head towards his. The laughter trickled out, his smile replaced by an expression of mild confusion, his lips slightly parted in question. The soft light of the dawn illuminating his golden eyes and his soft sleep tousled hair. _Oh, sweet Raava, how is he so pretty?_ Wu leaned in and kissed Mako, the heat from the night before had smoldered down into embers, but ready to be reignited with a breath. “You’re adorable.”

Mako snorted. “How can you be in the presence of some of the most famously adorable creatures in existence, and try to say _I’m_ adorable?” Wu rolled his eyes.

“And what if I think you’re all three equally tied as the most adorable beings to ever exist?”

“I have to say this in case he’s listening,” Mako whispered very quietly, before he spoke again at a normal speaking volume. “Pabu is actually the most adorable being to ever exist, all others may be a close second but will never be anywhere near as radiantly cute as he.”

“Ah, yes. You are correct, I was mistaken.” Wu tried not to laugh. “Pabu is of course the most adorable ever, the three of you tie for second, and all others fall somewhere far below that. But no one shall ever surpass His Radiance. However shall I atone for my thoughtless insults?” Mako had to cover his own mouth until he could speak without laughing.

“His Radiance, Pabu, Lord of All Adorable Beings That Have or Will Ever Exist, is a forgiving ruler. I am sure if you make a fitting sacrifice, of maybe treatie treats or snuggles or perhaps a new toy, all shall be good again.” He said in a voice that sounded eerily similar to the stuffy royal announcer at the few fancy events Wu had been allowed to attend as a child. After a minute where they both attempted to giggle as quietly as possible, they heard a slight scratching at the door. Mako fondly rolled his eyes and moved to get out of bed. As he moved closer to the door the scratching got more and more insistent.

“If I let you in, do you promise to be nice this time?” The scratching paused for moment, then they could both hear a low sad whine. “Okay then, since you _promised_ you can come in and snuggle with us.” The door had barely been opened before Pabu barreled in with something black and white in his mouth and leaped up onto the bed only to be met, by his surprise and dismay, by kittens. With a startled squeak, (having forgotten they existed in his excitement of being let in) he jumped straight up, similarly to how the kittens had before, but at least ten times as high, and landed back on the floor. Mako and Wu couldn’t help themselves as they burst into laughter. Still clutching his sides, Mako leaned down to look under the bed.

“Aw little buddy, we’re not laughing to be mean, we didn’t mean to embarrassed you. You’re just a funny little dude!”

“Aw poor Pabu, did he think we were making fun of him? Pabu, we would never! We love you!” Wu slipped out of bed to look under it with Mako. The kittens stood at the edge, attempting to follow but not quite sure how to accomplish that trick yet. Sure enough, the fire ferret had wrapped himself into a tight ball, with his ears flat to his head, underneath the bed. At Wu's words he let out a small whine.

“It’s true Pabu! We all love you very much. You know you’re the big babied boy, do you wanna be held like big baby?” Mako cooed and held out his arms but the fire ferret answered with an annoyed huff.

“Look, they’re excited to meet you little buddy! They’re still pretty new to the world, I’m sure there’s a lot you can teach them. You could be like their big brother Pabu!” Wu reasoned. One of Pabu's ears flicked up. “Yeah, that’s right, like Mako and Bolin!” The other ear popped up and he slowly raised his head.

“Did you bring your otter penguin with you to show them? I’m sure they’d love to see it.” Mako picked the black and white thing he had dropped in his fright, a stuffed otter penguin that had seen better days, up off the floor and offered it to him. Pabu slowly crept forward, his head hung down, and halfheartedly chomped down on the toy. “There you go, no need to be embarrassed.” One of the kittens meowed, upset they weren’t involved in the conversation. “You hear that? They’re wondering how you did that sick-ass jump off the bed. I mean, maybe don’t show them that right away because they’re still small and fragile, but I bet there’s a ton of stuff they’d love to learn from you.”

“Exactly! You can teach them things like, um…” Wu had never had a pet before and didn’t actually know what sort of things pets could teach each other.

“Like where to hide all your toys so no one else can find them, and then only bring them out after Bolin and I bought all new toys. Huh? That’s a good one.”

“Oh! Or how to convince someone you haven’t been fed, even though you already have. That’s a good one, right?” Wu added, he was pretty sure he had heard Mako or Bolin mentioned that had happened once. Or maybe Korra about Naga. He was starting to think that it might be an every pet sort of thing.

“Oooh, that’s a really good one. Maybe someday they’ll be an expert just like you, so they can trick the same person into feeding them twice.” At this point, Wu wasn’t entirely sure if Mako was trying to roast Pabu or encourage him, but his tone was encouraging enough that the fire ferret took his stuffed otter penguin and jumped back up on the bed. He and the kittens immediately started to cautiously sniffed at each other, the kittens definitely bolder in their approach than Pabu was.

“So, who did he trick, you or Bolin?” Wu asked as they followed back into bed.

“I don’t wanna talk about it.” Mako scowled bitterly.

“Both of you?” Mako’s eyes shifted downwards.

“Just you?!” Mako’s eyes shifted further away from Wu's.

“ _More than once_?!”

“I said I don’t want to talk about it okay!”

* * *

When Bolin quietly crept out of his room, someone was already in the bathroom and the coffee maker was running. Which actually wasn’t too unusual. Mako was always the earliest riser in the house, the only odd thing was that this was an early start for everyone else, but a late start for him. _He deserves a lazy morning in, more than anybody_. _Good for him._ Bolin shrugged and started getting out the sugar, milk, and the fancy flavoring syrup that Mako had started to use every day, but still tried to hide out of sight. When the coffee maker was almost done, he heard the bathroom door open and lights snap off. But when he turned around, it wasn't his brother stretching and yawning in his several sizes too big borrowed sweats. 

“This your doing?” He picked the syrup bottle up and waved it. Wu smiled and shook his head.

“I didn't buy it if that's what you're asking, but it does look like one of the syrups they had at a café we used to go to for breakfast sometimes. They shut down after the attack and haven't opened back up yet.”

“Yeah, that checks out.” Bolin poured out two mugs of coffee and offered the sugar to Wu. He shook he head and just took the mug of coffee. “One thing many people don’t know about my brother, is that he’s got a powerful sweet tooth.”

“When your brother became my bodyguard, it took a long time to get him to talk. Let alone tell me anything about himself.” Wu fondly rolled his eyes and took a long sip of coffee. “But that was one of the first things I noticed. Like, by week two at the latest.”

Bolin snorted into his mug. “Where is he anyways? I’ve never seen him sleep in this late.”

“Well, he was awake for a while. But then the kittens, and Pabu, fell asleep on him, and he didn’t want to disturb them, so he just ended up falling back asleep. But I had to go to the bathroom, so I figured I might as well start the coffee.” He shrugged.

“Wait, did he really?”

“Yeah, it was really cute.” Wu smiled sweetly.

“No way, I’ve got to see this.” He set his mug on a Mako Approved coaster and quickly crept towards his brother’s bedroom. He softly opened up the door to peek inside. Sure enough, Pabu had curled up cradled in the crook of his arm, Spice curled up right on his neck tucked under his chin. And he assumed the black as night spot on his shoulder was Midnight. And Mako was very much asleep.

“Sweet Raava, this is too cute. I wish I had a camera right now.” He whispered to Wu, who had followed him over. One of his brother’s eyebrows twitched and he smiled mischievously. “I would have a ton of copies made and spread them all over the station.”

“Don’t you dare.” Mako hissed, with barely a twitch of his lips.

“Maybe take out a few ads in the paper. Full page. That'd be cute, right Wu?”

“I don't want to be a part of this.” The Earth King whispered back.

“Bolin, don't you dare.” Mako hissed again and cracked an eye open.

“Oh, Mako! You're awake, what was that? Why don't you speak up a little louder so I can hear you?” He loudly whispered.

“You know _damn_ well why I'm-" He let out a scandalized gasp as Spice stretched and let out a sound like a meow and a yawn mixed together. As quiet as he tried to whisper, there was really no hiding throat vibrations from a kitten laying on your neck. “Look, at what you've done Bolin, I hope you're proud of yourself.” He whispered as Midnight curled in on herself and stretched out onto her back.

“Oh, I am. I'm very proud.” Bolin whispered smugly as he made the rest of his way into the room. He scratched a still snoozing Pabu behind the ears as he sat on the edge of the bed to pet Midnight and Spice who had both just started to purr.

“Sorry Mako.” Wu whispered.

“It’s okay, it's not your fault my brother has no concept of privacy.”

Bolin rolled his eyes as he continued to pet the kittens and Pabu. Wu crawled onto the bed on Mako's other side to join in. Eventually he did have to move them when they started to play fight while still laying on his neck.

“Sorry kiddos, but neck sliced open by kitten claws isn’t the way I want to go. Also, I have a boyfriend now so… well I mean… we didn’t actually really-we haven’t really had that talk yet…”

“I would also appreciate my new boyfriend not dying by kitten claws.” Wu smiled as he kissed Mako on the cheek. They watched them play for a little bit, until Pabu got annoyed and stepped in to break up the fight. It didn’t take too long for all three of them to fall back asleep, curled up together on the pillows.

By the time they wandered back out into the living room Bolin and Wu's coffee had gone cold. Both automatically handed their mugs to Mako to heat up.

“Are you gonna show us how they make your _fancy_ coffee at the _fancy pants_ café? Bolin teased when Mako grabbed a mug. His older brother gave him a deadpan look, then glanced over at Wu.

“Sorry, again. I didn’t realize I was giving your brother so much ammo, but I’ll make sure I’ll be more careful in the future.” He glared at Bolin. Mako shrugged and moved to the fridge.

“He usually finds these types of things out eventually. Besides, it’s not like I don’t have plenty of ammo on him. I just don’t immediately use it all up. I like to wait until the moment is right. Don’t I Nuktuk, _brave_ hero and _handsome_ savior of the _amazingly_ hot Zaofu princess?” He dropped a container of whipped cream on the counter. Bolin spit out his reheated coffee.

“You heard that?! Dude!”

Mako chuckled mischievously as he grabbed the milk, sugar, and flavoring syrup. When he finished mixing the coffee with the milk, sugar, and syrup he added a dollop of whipped cream, added some of the syrup on top of that in a neat crisscrossing pattern, and grabbed some cinnamon from the cabinet and sprinkled that on top. The other two men looked at each other.

“I drink my coffee black; I swear to you Bolin this has nothing to do with my influence.”

“Dude… weirdly enough, I believe you.”

Mako smiled, looking very pleased with himself, and plopped himself down on the couch next to Wu, of course mindful of his coffee (was it considered a latte at that point? Bolin had never really bothered paying for high-price lattes, because he had a coffee machine at home and- oh no, was he turning into Mako? If he was turning into Mako, then who was Mako turning into?). Soon afterwards, Opal walked out of Bolin's room stretching and yawning.

“Ooooh, that looks good, what is that?” Her eyes lit up when she spotted the fancy coffee.

“Mako’s a barista now. He’s quitting the high stakes life of a detective and opening up his own café.”

“Ha-ha, you’re hilarious. Opal you want one?” His brother asked, already back up and in the kitchen to get the ingredients back out. She eagerly nodded as she threw herself down beside Bolin. Mako handed her a similar version of his own (this time he did a swirly design with the syrup) and snuggled back up to Wu. As they leaned on each other, Bolin couldn’t help but notice how- what was the word he was looking for? It wasn’t quite happy, but more relaxed? Content? Comfortable? He couldn’t help but notice how at ease he seemed around Wu. Usually Mako was a “if you’re not ready to go by 8 am, the entire day is wasted” kind of guy. But here it was, after 10am, and he was totally relaxed and content to just chill on the couch and sip his coffee. Hadn’t even started to think about breakfast yet. They definitely balanced each other out, like the push and pull of the ocean. He nodded to himself. _Me, you’re such a good matchmaker. I don’t know why you didn’t try interfering in Mako's love life sooner._

* * *

Meow.

“Oh, yes?”

Meow.

“Care to elaborate?”

Wu flipped his page and looked over to the door of the office. Sure enough, he could see the tip of Spice's fluffy tail from where he had sat to read his book in the living room. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Midnight and Princess slowly slink down from their perch and walk over to join their brother.

“Well, I don’t think that’s right.”

Meow!

“Hmm, no, we have dinner time pretty consistently at the same time every day. So, I’m pretty sure it’s not dinner time yet big fluff.”

As odd as it was, this had become an almost daily conversation at their house. A few years ago, they had moved into a townhouse together, it had a little fenced in yard and much more space. An unforeseen consequence (which he honestly should have seen coming) was that Mako would reason more space meant there was room for more cats. Wu had very quickly after that realized that this could become a problem, so he told him he could only have up to five cats at a time. They currently had six because “I didn’t know she was pregnant when I adopted her, I swear!” Along with Midnight and Spice, they had also adopted Bosco II, Princess, and her two kittens Korra Jr. and Bolin Jr. (Also known as Ko-ju and Bo-ju for short).

Now he could hear a chorus of very insistent meows coming from within their shared office.

“Guys, please don’t listen to your brothers lies. It’s not dinner time!”

_Meow!_

He could hear Mako sigh and mumble something he couldn’t decipher from his chair in the living room. Then Wu saw him as he left the office, walking slowly so he wouldn’t step on any of the cats winding their way around his feet.

“Aren’t you supposed to be doing homework? Instead of negotiating dinner times with the cats?” He teased. Around the time they moved in together, Mako had confided in him he didn’t actually want to be a cop. That it was the first solid job with benefits he had been offered, and at the time thought it was the best option he would ever have. He had been so desperate for something stable, that he didn’t care if it wasn’t what he wanted to do, it felt like it was what he needed to do for both Bolin and him. When the dust had settled and he had landed with both feet, he had stayed because he was 1. Good at solving mysteries 2. Lin Beifong had become his mentor (and some people would argue, his mom) and 3. He thought he had locked himself in there until he retired. But once he had confided in Wu, and eventually his brother, friends, and the most terrifying of all, Chief Beifong; they all reassured him it was okay to leave to find his own path.

But even though he knew what he _didn’t_ want to do, he didn’t know what he _did_ want to do. After some brainstorming sessions, and a lot of convincing, the best idea was for Mako to go back to school. He could study a broad range of topics and see if there was anything he would want to pursue. Wu had offered to pay his entire tuition, which Mako had immediately turned down the first several times he offered. Asami also offered, and was turned down as well. Even Lin had offered to contribute. Eventually Mako admitted to them that he was nervous about feeling indebted to them, that he wouldn’t be successful, it was too late for him to go to college, that he wouldn’t be able to pay them back, he had dropped out of school when he was eight, they would all just be disappointed in the end.

When they managed to convince him his fears were unfounded, they just wanted him to get the chance to find something he was happy in, and get him to apply; it ended up all for naught anyways. Republic City University gave him a full scholarship. Wu wasn’t sure if someone with influence (top suspects were Lin Beifong, President Zhu Li Moon, or Tenzin) had made a call, pulled some strings, gotten some blackmail on someone important at RCU (if that was the case, probably not Tenzin), or what. Possibly, they decided to give him a full ride because he was the Avatar's friend and had helped save the city and the world more times than you could count on two hands, and it would probably be really good PR to give that guy a full scholarship. Whatever had happened, all Wu knew was that he had nothing to do with it whatsoever, and if he was honest, he was a little disappointed he didn’t think of it himself. But he was just mostly happy and proud of his boyfriend.

So far Mako was in his second year at Republic City University. He hadn’t yet decided what he wanted to do, but he’d narrowed down a few options. He had really enjoyed his history, creative writing, and accounting classes so far. Mako sighed as he attempted to walk through the cats weaving around his legs.

“They threatened Grandma on me.”

“Wow that’s a very serious threat, you guys weren’t messing around, huh?” The former Earth King, now Earth Ambassador to Republic City, put his book down and pet the crowd of cats gathering to meow in protest of how long Mako was taking to prepare their dinner in the kitchen. They looked up and meowed at Wu in desperation and also in an attempt to convince him to make food appear out of thin air. “I know, I know,” He said soothingly. “It’s been over an hour since Dad's snuck you guys any treats, Mako that’s like, months in cat time! I’m _shocked_ they didn’t pull the Grandma card sooner.”

“Uh, well you could _help_.” Mako gestured to the bowls, now all filled with wet food. He had already managed to pick up four at once so Wu grabbed the other two. Mako insisted they should all be given their food at the same time, so there would be no drama or fights over food and favorites. They put the dishes down on the floor and, once they quickly stepped out of the way of the stampede of cats, Mako put his arms around Wu's shoulders.

“And, I have most of it done. I have time for a short break.”

“Hmmm, just a short break?” Wu slipped his hands down Mako's waist and started to kiss along his neck and jawline.

“I could be convinced to take a slightly longer break I guess, with a strong enough argument.” He tilted his head to give Wu better access to the soft vulnerable part of his neck.

“Well, the kids are distracted. We could go upstairs and close the door before they even realize we’re gone.” Wu loved their fluffy furry cat family, but ever since that first day they often got in the way of being… well, _intimate_. And neither of them really had the heart to kick any of the cats out of the room once they were already in there. They had tried once, and the chorus of heartbroken meows and desperate scratching on the door was the saddest thing Wu had ever heard. An opportunity to slip away unnoticed was a hard thing to come by in their house. Mako looked down at the cats, to make sure they were all there eating, looked back at Wu then grabbed his hand and rushed up the stairs.

Once the door was securely closed, Wu pushed him up against the door and captured Mako’s lips in a searing kiss. Even after years of dating, he still felt like he was ascending into a higher plane of existence whenever they kissed. Even more so, now that they knew each other’s likes and dislikes and little things that drove each other up the wall. Mako moaned as Wu worked his fingers under his shirt and dragged his fingernails up to his rib cage.

“I love you, so much.” Mako panted when they finally broke apart for air. Wu felt a thrum of pure happiness whenever he said it, just as strongly as the first time (technically they had both said it first, in order of conversation: Mako had, but he was talking to one of the kittens, in order of intent: Wu, because he did not realize Mako was talking to a kitten until it was too late. Mako had followed up a few minutes (and kisses) later that he also loved Wu too). He kissed Mako again.

“I love you too.”


End file.
